Jun. 22--ST. PETERSBURG -- The indoor batting cage at Tropicana Field got pretty crowded in the top of the ninth inning Saturday night.
The Rays trailed the Astros by one run and the bottom of their order was coming up against a right-hander. That meant it was time to get ready for all the big left-handed sticks who usually are in the starting lineup but got the night off because Houston started a lefty.
Cliff Floyd, who had replaced Jonny Gomes as the designated hitter in the sixth, was in the cage. So were Eric Hinske, Dioner Navarro and Gabe Gross, either hitting off a tee or hacking at pitches from Akinori Iwamura's interpreter, Tateki Uchibori, who throws a handy batting-practice fastball.
Once the bottom of the ninth rolled around, those hitters had about as much trouble with fill-in Astros closer Doug Brocail as they had against the man affectionately known as "Bori." Floyd and Hinske singled and Navarro was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Gross sliced a bloop double just inside the left-field line to score two runs and give the Rays a 4-3 victory.
The Rays have had more than their share of late-inning success this season, but Saturday was the first game they won after trailing heading into the ninth inning. They had been 0-25 when behind after the eighth.
The last-gasp win brought the Rays within a half-game of the first-place Red Sox, who lost to St. Louis earlier in the day.
In a bigger-picture sense, it was just another reinforcement of the notion that anyone can play the hero on a given night.
If you're going to bet on one player to come through, however, Gross might be the best option. He has had the game-winning hit in three of the Rays' seven walk-off victories this season.
"I didn't take a very good swing but I got pretty lucky," Gross said. "Just hit it in the right spot, barely fair, good enough to get us the win."
The percentages were on the Rays' side in the ninth after Astros manager Cecil Cooper decided to go with Brocail rather than Jose Valverde, who had either pitched or warmed up each of the previous four days. Having Brocail in there made clearing the Rays' bench a no-brainer. While the veteran had limited right-handed hitters to a .171 average, lefties were hitting .278 against him.
"I just figured it was the right thing to do to empty it at that point," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Why not?"
It worked, bringing the Rays back to finish off an intriguing game. Tampa Bay actually had a lead at one point, with Justin Ruggiano's first big-league homer providing a 2-1 edge in the fifth, before Houston took the lead in bizarre fashion.
The Astros tied the game on a bases-loaded walk by Edwin Jackson in the seventh and went ahead in the eighth without the benefit of a hit.
Lance Berkman, who had reached base on a strikeout when Shawn Riggans couldn't handle the ball and fired a throw into right field, came home to score as the Rays failed to turn what would have been an inning-ending double play. Carlos Lee went in hard and, in Maddon's opinion, illegally, at second to break it up. Maddon contended Lee grabbed Iwamura's leg as he tried to make the turn and argued with the umpire to no avail.
Iwamura said that show of support fired the team up. Or, maybe it was Bori.
"Tip your hat to Bori for throwing to us," Floyd said. "He might have rotator cuff surgery at the end of the year, but he's doing a great job of keeping us ready."
Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.
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